Military air space to be holiday 'express lane'

Aviation Airlines
1

Unused military airspace will be opened to commercial flights for the Christmas holidays

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/11/15/airline.delays.ap/index.html#

Any thoughts on this?

Feel free to move this to another forum if it fits elsewhere. Just curious.

2

Military operating areas are normally opened to all traffic when the military isn’t using them. In other words, all this news article has is more political BS trying to placate the citizens. It also indicates that the military won’t be using these areas for training during the 4 day weekend. Big surprise there! (For you people in DC (District of Criminals) and Block Island, that last sentence is sarcasm)

3

The only benefits to the “Thanksgiving Express Lane” would be additional airspace availability for weather re-routing, and for planes that are behind schedule to have a short-cut across the Atlantic to make up time. Otherwise with airline schedule dynamics being pretty well set in stone, its use would just create a whole other mess…

4

hahahahaha…thanks, guys…all that makes sense…

5

Mr. President really is trying just about anything to look better… No? :wink:

6

The only “express lane” that would make any difference in the NY delays would be to shut down the NJ turnpike and use it as a forth runway at EWR. Oh wait, that wouldn’t help, the turnpike is WAY too close to run side by side approaches in bad weather…crap…

The moral of the story is that its the lack of concrete in the NY metro, not the lack of airspace that is causing delays.

DM

7

Anybody want to guess if NY Center computers will be configured to route airplanes on the “unused” ARs?

8

From Aero_news: FAA Ponders Changes At NYC Airports To Combat Holiday Issues

9

Worthless publicity stunt.

Here’s why:

  1. the delays are not being caused by a lack of airspace in the northeast = they are being caused by a lack of asphalt - not enough runways. When you have 45 departures between 7.30a and 8.30a and the rules request 2 min in trail for spacing, at least half the planes will be late and there will be a long line of airplanes waiting to depart, Having more airspace solves that problem not one whit.

  2. NYC ATC has clearly defined routes that they will change for 5 days - not. Lets not forget that we have an FAA study on re-routing NY airspace for more efficiency that is three YEARS old and not even close of implementation yet. They’re gonna do it in a week?

  3. NYC ATC has letter agreements with surrounding centers and tracons concerning traffic inflow and outflow and will not change those for 5 days either.

10

A better way to solve the east coast air problem would be to move DC to the Oklahoma/Texas border area. I mean Md. and Va. have had it for long enough… right? :confused:

11

and even better way to solve the problem is move DC an equivalent distance east . . . . :wink:

12

I live in Oklahoma, and we don’t need the District of Criminals here, we already have enough criminal/politicians here.

13

reisajd,

I beg to differ with you but the NY airspace re-design has been in the planning stages since the 1980’s

Whenever an acceptable airspace plan surfaces and is agreed on by the many ATC facilities involved (from Boston Center and the Blue Water ATC sectors to as far south as Jacksonville FL and as far west as Chicago) the tree huggers come along, file a lawsuit and cause the whole plan to be scrapped. At a cost of millions of dollars for each plan!

Blame the EPA and the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) not the FAA.